A Bad Day
by PlanA
Summary: Severus Snape has had some great days recently, all with Lily Evans. Now he has to make a choice, take a risk. Things can only keep getting better, right?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So now for something completely different by PlanA :)**

**Apologies if it starts off a bit slow, took me a few paragraphs to get into it. But once I did I really loved it, 1,000 words in a few hours. Pretty happy with it, back up to standard I hope :) Enjoy. R&R.**

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><p>Today. He would do it today. Things were changing and he had to take his chance.<p>

The exam period was approaching fast and for those in their fifth year at Hogwarts this meant Ordinary Wizarding Levels. Though it had to be said, he felt pretty prepared actually – Potions, of course, came naturally to Severus Snape and Defence Against the Dark Arts would be pretty easy: he spent most of his time these days with his fellow Slytherin's practicing dark spells and what good was knowing them if you couldn't counter them?

Anyway, it wasn't the exams that were on his mind. It was something completely different.

On the occasions when he wasn't meddling in dark magic, he would visit the girl he loved – the Muggle-born Lily Evans. Of course, this completely undermined everything Slytherin stood for – purebloods were supreme, there was no place in this world for Muggles, least of all those masquerading as wizards and witches. And because of this he had been helping her with her defensive spells.

Lily was a great witch; she didn't need any help to prepare for her exams, of course she didn't, but everyday Snape had to endure hours of his "friends" discussing ways they were going to curse or torture, or during particular impassioned occasions, kill all Muggle-borns: when the time came he wanted her to be able to defend each and every vicious attack the Slytherins were going to throw at her. Lily knew as well as Severus did that he wasn't really there to help her revise, she was fully away of what he and his housemates got up to, but for the sake of their friendship she kept up the pretense, they'd decided that together...

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><p>"So let me get this straight, you want to help me, a mere Muggle-born, with my Defence Against the Dark Arts revision?" Lily said jokingly and looked down at her friend who was lying still in the grass beside her.<p>

Severus could feel her looking at him with her stunning green eyes but focused his gaze on the branches of the Whomping Willow criss-crossing the blue cloudless skies above and nodded. Lily had used the Freezing charm to stop the tree thrashing around so it was safe for now; besides it was the only place they wouldn't be disturbed.

"I know my stuff Sev, I'm not in the Slug Club just on my looks you know."

He smiled. "No, but they help," he said pushing himself up on his right arm to look at her.

Lily rolled her eyes at her best friend but was grinning all the same. "Anyway back to the point ..."

"Sorry, yes. I just think it would be ... beneficial for you to be prepared and ..." Snape searched for the words, wanting to make it clear he wasn't just talking about the upcoming exams; "... er ... and aware of the dangers that you might face, you know ... outside the classroom."

Lily snapped her head to face the front and stared up at Hogwarts. Her jaw tensed as she understood, "We're not just talking O.W.L.'s are we?" She didn't need to be looking at him to see Severus shake his head.

For a while they were quiet and Lily, while trying to compose her thoughts, watched as an owl flew out of the Owlery at the top of the West Tower; she could just make its talons clutching at a tiny envelope. She followed its path as it swooped and swerved through the still, summer air until it was just a spec in the distance.

"Lily?" Severus sat up straight and placed his hand tentatively on Lily's shoulder.

The 16-year old took her friends hand in hers and squeezed it appreciatively. "What if your lot ... I mean, the "examiners" find out you're helping me – they'll kill you."

Severus shrugged, "It couldn't feel any worse than seeing them hurt you."

All of a sudden, Lily leant over and kissed him on the cheek. Severus recoiled a bit, her actions catching both of them by surprise.

"Thanks," Snape couldn't hide his happiness, a grin spread across his male face making even his black eyes light up.

Lily knew how vulnerable she was being a Muggle-born, especially nowadays with more and more wizards and witches joining the Dark Lord.

"Well you are lovely when you want to be Sev. I don't know why you get involved in all this Dark magic nonsense; it doesn't suit you ... certainly not the 'you' I know."

He opened his mouth to respond but knew he couldn't justify his behaviour. Fortunately, Lily saved him the hassle of coming up with an excuse:

"So, these ... ahem ... revision sessions then ... where are we going to go? If we're seen practicing magic together, it won't take long for it to get around that something's going on."

"I think I've found somewhere that will suit our requirements," he replied, emphasising the last word, "7th floor corridor – look for me – want to find me and you will."

_What the hell? _Lily thought this sounded mad, but then magic was more-or-less based on madness, so she nodded, assuming all would be revealed.

Silence fell between them again as they watched the Sun disappear behind the turrets of Hogwarts, casting slanting shadows over the grounds. As if sensing the drop in temperature, the Whomping Willow shuddered, awaking from the Immobulus charm. One of its huge branches fell lethargically, hitting the ground only feet from Lily with a loud thud and sending vibrations through the ground.

Severus grabbed Lily's hand, pulling her to her feet and, casting only a brief look back to see the willow stretching its limbs for a proper assault, they ran.

The sentient tree reached out as far as it could, angered that these small creatures had been trespassing on its ground for the last few hours. In its final effort it managed to surround the intruders with the tips of its twigs and leaves, grappling about trying to get a grip but they were soon out of reach. Admitting defeat, the tree withdrew its branches, twisted them back into position and sighed.

Fifty metres away, a red haired witch and a black haired wizard were bent over, hands on knees trying to catch their breath. Eventually they stood up straight and looked at each other. Then he saw it and Severus Snape couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Lily demanded, suddenly self-conscious.

"You look like a baby Whomping Willow!" Severus motioned for Lily to lean forwards and he began to remove the numerous bits of tree from her hair.

_This was a good day_, he thought to himself.

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><p><strong>I'm afraid I can't promise when the next chapter will be up as I really need to finish my Consequences fanfic. Will see how people react to this one :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Ok so he'd chickened out. 'Coward Severus,' he thought to himself. It had seemed the perfect thing to do when he thought about it last night but as soon as he saw her this morning the words had failed him. No use worrying about it now, his first O.W.L. exam was tomorrow – Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape decided that he would try again tomorrow, after the exam when she was in a good mood but until then he would focus on his revision, he need to distract himself...

Severus looked down at the blank piece of parchment in front of him, picked up his tattered pheasant quill and dipped it in ink to begin writing notes; bullet points of what he might need to mention in the exam...

... but what would she say? If the other night was anything to go by... she wouldn't say no surely?

"Concentrate!" Snape snapped at himself. He brought his fists down with a hard thump on his desk in frustration and with such force that the nib of his quill snapped, sending deep black ink spiking across his paper.

A low growl rattled in his throat, he wasn't going to get Lily out of his head any time soon. It was completely impossible.

Severus stood up sharply from his desk and went over to the mirror across the dorm. He looked himself up and down, scrutinizing every aspect of his appearance: average height, slim, dark eyes. He brushed his hand over his cheek and under his chin, patches of stubble bristling on his newly defined jaw line - he certainly looked older than his 16 years. His nose was a bit ... obvious but he could put up with that; what he couldn't stand was his hair – it just clung to his head and the side of his face, lifeless. Making sure no-one was watching he ran his hand through it, ruffling it up, but as soon as he stopped it fell back down, dead straight. Why would Lily want someone like him?

Still looking in the mirror, Severus sat down on the edge of his bed. He placed his face in his hands and winced - his nose was still bruised from his encounter with Potter the other morning. He sighed, and remembered a better day, like what he had been doing a fortnight ago ...

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><p>... Lily pottered up and down the 7th floor corridor wondering what kind of wild goose chase her friend had led her on. After 10 minutes of pacing she slumped down against the wall and wondered: W<em>hat if this was all a big trick, what if Snape and his cronies ambush me? Or even worse, what if he's stood me up?<em>

She knew it was wrong but she liked the hold she had over her friend – she was fully aware that he fancied her, maybe even loved her, but she didn't feel the same. Or at least she didn't think she did until – _maybe he's had a better offer, maybe he's found someone else? _Lily couldn't stand the idea of anyone else having Severus.

_One last try_, she thought to herself, and remembered back to the other night and his instructions.

"... want to find me and you will," he'd said.

At that very moment she felt a prod in the back, and then another. The wall behind her grumbled and she was on her feet in seconds, whisking round to see a stone archway appear out of the brickwork; it surrounded a single wooden door which was covered with silver patterning and whirls.

Before Lily's hand reached the handle, the door swung open revealing a large, empty room. Gothic iron torch holders were positioned high on every wall; the flames within them the only light in the room.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye Lily saw something move and jet of gold light came at her from the shadows.

"PROTEGO!" she shouted and her shield charm deflected the offensive spell.

A figure stepped out of the dark, smiling slightly.

"SEV!" Lily was relieved to see him, "What are you playing at?"

Snape opened his mouth to reply but Lily carried on, "Actually forget that, what the Hell is this place?"

"It's the Room of Requirement," Severus replied smugly, although judging by Lily's blank look this hadn't helped. He continued, "It only appears to those who have a real need for it. Always in the same place, but different depending on what you, the user, requires. Hence ..."

"Room of Requirement, I get it. I bet not many people know about this place ... how did you manage to find it?"

"Potter and Black," mumbled Snape, "Overheard them say something about using this place to practice for Moony's next transformation ... whatever that means."

"So you wanted to know what they were up to and followed them, trust you Severus!" teased Lily.

Snape scowled slightly as he approached Lily, "Do you want my help or not?"

"Yeh, 'course!"

"Good," he said. Severus walked over and put his arm round Lily; pulling her sharply backwards. As they both fell, an emerald sofa appeared out of thin air cushioning them; dust puffed out of it as they landed.

"Nice," grinned Lily, impressed. She turned to Severus, "Anyway enough showing off, let's get on with it."

"Ok. I want to start by teaching you some of the spells that are particular to us Slytherins. You need to be able to recognise the incantation and wand movement so you know what's coming at you. And then we'll move onto the counter spells?"

"S'fine with me."

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><p>For the next few hours Severus sent some of the less violent curses at Lily and discovered very quickly that he had seriously underestimated her skill as a witch. She had soon learnt to associate the relevant counter course with each attacking spell and had managed to catch him out with a few of her own.<p>

They found themselves now in a mock duel against one another. Severus bowed his head at his opponent and she nodded back, grinning.

At once, Lily cast the spell to disarm her friend but he blocked it with a swift action of his wand-arm in front of him and was immediately ready for his next move.

"Levicorpus!" Snape shot one of his own spells at Lily.

Lily was barely off her feet when she managed to mutter the counter-jinx "Liberacorpus," followed instantly by a jabbing of her wand in Snape's direction and cried "EVERTE STATUM!"

Completely unprepared, Snape was hurled backwards; spinning uncontrollably across the room, his black robes wrapping around him.

His opponent was stunned; she thought he would've brushed it off in an instant, it was one of his spells after all! Instead, Lily now watched as he landed with a crash on the hard tiled floor. She hurried over to him and knelt by his side. Severus' eyes were closed.

"Severus? Sev? I'm so sorry, I thought you were ready. Are you alright? It wasn't that bad."

Severus Snape rarely changed his facial expression so it was difficult to tell whether he was just messing with her; she tapped his cheek – nothing. She hit him harder on the chest with both hands – still he didn't budge.

"Sev?" Lily whispered. She leant down close to his face, brushing his hair away and trying to detect a flicker of movement behind his eyes.

He heard her whisper his name and now he felt her breath hot on his face. Of course, Severus was alright: bruised maybe, though if it meant getting Lily this close to him he'd gladly do it again.

Something told him he wouldn't get this chance again – without opening his eyes, he grabbed the girl and kissed her, only gently at first, but it was definitely a kiss. Perhaps he'd hit his head in his fall, perhaps he just had a rush of courage: whatever it was he was glad of it.

Initially Lily pulled away – she'd been convinced he was genuinely unconscious! That and the fact it was Severus Snape, her best friend, her best childhood friend, yet he had set something alight in her, just by the touch of his lips on hers. So without another moment of hesitation she kissed him back.

Their first kiss – it was incredible; gentle and innocent, both of them relishing the intimacy. For Snape it had been a very long time coming and it was certainly worth the wait. Lily, on the other hand had never expected this; it seemed unnatural to her to want someone she saw almost like a brother, but in that moment it couldn't have felt more right.

As the kiss became fiercer, lips moving quicker and more eagerly, Lily placed her hand on the back of Severus' head to hold him closer. It was wet and she knew exactly what it felt like.

"Sev, you're bleeding!" she squealed, tearing herself away from him and holding out her hand which was crimson with blood.

"Ah," he smiled weakly, "I thought it was the kiss that was making me feel light-headed."

The young witch smiled back apologetically, "I'm really sorry Sev, it's all my fault. Come on, let's get you to the hospital wing," and hoisted him to his feet.

Snape groaned, "Can't you fix it?"

Lily shook her head, "It's too deep."

"Great," he muttered and rolled his eyes.

"There a problem?"

_Honestly?_ Snape thought to himself, he was worried what people would say if they saw them together, especially if they passed any Slytherins. Of course he didn't say that, instead he told her, "I just don't want everyone to know that I got beat by a girl."

Lily giggled and just before they exited the room back onto the corridor, she kissed him again hard.

And Snape thought to himself, _what a great day_.

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><p>Back in the present, Severus Snape ran his over what remained of the cut on the back of his head, lifting his head back up to look in the mirror. When his eyes refocused he saw half his face was black and he realised – the ink that had exploded out of his quill was now smudged all down his face.<p>

Utterly exasperated, he threw his arms out and fell back onto his bed.

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><p><strong>I apologise now for the atrocity of the phrase "Lily pottered" but I just couldn't resist. Hope you liked. R&amp;R please :) xx<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

It was the last lesson before the exam in two days time. Just before 9am, students from every year group were bustling through the Hogwarts corridors and Severus Snape was amongst them. He hurried his way through the crowd, head down; his black and green Slytherin cloak billowing out behind him. He didn't hear the footsteps chasing him.

The crowd dispersed slightly as he turned the corner at the end of the corridor but he still didn't hear them coming. Before he knew what was happening, Snape felt someone barge into him, hard. He flung out his arms trying to grab onto something but it was too; he found himself taking a nose dive onto the cold stone floor.

A crunch echoed in the halls and Snape not only felt it but heard it as his nose met the floor, breaking instantly. He looked up to see four figures standing a few feet away, although he was unable to distinguish their features due to his eyes watering from the immense pain spreading across his face.

"We know you're up to something, Snivellus," growled one of them. Severus didn't need to see the face; he recognised the long mess of wild black hair surrounding it as that of Sirius Black.

"Pettigrew saw you walking up the Grand Staircase with Lily last week, didn't you Pete?" said Sirius, nudging the small chubby boy next to him.

"Y...y...yes I, I did. What were you doing?" Peter Pettigrew puffed out his chest trying to look macho.

"None of your business," Snape grumbled in his low voice, and he pushed himself up on all fours, then up onto one knee but he had barely done so when a foot made contact with his should and forced him backwards onto the floor.

"Look at us when you talk to us!" James shouted at him. "What have you been doing with Lily? You know she's mine, so back off!"

Severus snorted, despite his pain, "Even under the influence of the most powerful love potion, Lily Evans wouldn't catch you if you fell off your broom."

James eyes widened; if looks could've killed, Snape would've fallen dead on the spot. James raised his fist and ran at Snape who, having lost this battle before it began, could only put his arms up in defense.

He never felt Potter's clenched fist hit – instead he heard scuffling and a grunt.

"Leave him, James," demanded Remus Lupin, who was gripping James' upper arms, forcing them behind his back. James struggled for a few seconds but soon gave up; Lupin was much taller and clearly much stronger than his friend.

"We're late for class," stated Lupin, and let go of James who turned to look at his 3 friends, noticing that even Sirius appeared surprised by his violent outburst and he too was beckoning for him to leave Snape and go to class.

Silently, they moved off down the corridor, leaving Snape nursing his wounds on the floor. As they walked away, Severus noticed Lupin flick his wand behind his back and immediately he felt his nose crack again. Snape touched it tentatively with the tip of his fingers – it was fixed.

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><p><strong>AN**

**Apologies that this chapter doesn't fit the pattern of the previous ones and that it's pretty short. It wasn't supposed to be so in depth and once it went over 500 words I felt it would work enough as a stand alone chapter. Also didn't want all of them to be mooshy lovey-dovey Sev&Lily stuff**

**... and I wanted to include Lupin because he's my favourite (yes even more than Snape, unless Snape had facial hair, then it would be a different matter!)**

**Thank you for reading, please review, it keeps me going and if you do I will get next chapter up quicker :)**


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